March by farmers who had pooled land for development of the grand capital envisaged by then CM Chandrababu Naidu.
Amaravati farmers at the launch of their Maha Padayatra 2.0 from Venkatapalem in Tulluru Mandal on 12 September. (Supplied)
Pulling the chariot of Lord Sri Venkateswara to seek divine blessings, Amaravati’s farmers kickstarted their Maha Padayatra 2.0 on Monday, 12 September, from Venkatapalem in Tullur Mandal.
As their agitation demanding the government continue with Amaravati as the sole capital of Andhra Pradesh and withdraw its three-capitals plan is set to complete 1,000 days, the farmers decided to take out a padayatra from Amaravati to the Sri Suryanarayana Swamy temple in Arasavalli in Srikakulam district.
These are the farmers who had pooled their lands for the development of what was envisioned as a grand capital by the then chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu of the TDP.
They first offered prayers at the newly-opened Lord Venkateswara temple constructed by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthams( TTD) at Venkatapalem and took out the padayatra. The chariot will travel with them all the way.
Due to conditions laid down by the Andhra Pradesh High Court after a legal battle with the ruling YSRCP — which sought to scuttle the maha padayatra — only 600 people, including women, are participating in the foot march that is planned to last 60 days.
Chants of “We want Amaravati as sole capital” and “Withdraw three-capitals plan” reverberated in the air as the farmers embarked on Day 1 of the march.
This is the second phase of the padayatra by the Amaravati farmers. Last year, they took out a padayatra from Amaravati to Tirupati.
“Amaravati is the people’s capital. It’s unfortunate that despite direction from the high court there has been no development in the Amaravati area,” A Siva Reddy, state convenor of the Amaravati Joint Action Committee (JAC), told South First.
The maha padayatra is being held under the aegis of Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi (APS) and Amaravati JAC.
As the state DGP, VK Rajendranath Reddy denied permission to the maha padayatra, APS General Secretary Gadde Tirupati Rao approached the high court. The high court, two days ago, gave the nod for 600 members to participate in the padayatra.
Last year’s rally to Tirumala temple, from November 1 to December 17, had seen a grand closing ceremony in Tirupati town in which TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu also participated.
The current padayatra will pass through the districts of Guntur, Bapatla, Krishna, Eluru, West Godavari, East Godavari, Ambedkar Konaseema, Kakinada, Anakapalli, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam.
Barring the ruling YSRCP, all major political parties in the state have pledged support to the ongoing stir and maha padayatra by the Amaravati farmers.
On Monday, leaders of the TDP, BJP, Jana Sena and Left parties were at hand to flag off the padayatra, with few even pulling the chariot in a show of support.
The main opposition TDP has been the most vocal supporter of the agitation, and party general secretary and former minister Nara Lokesh is expected to take part in the padayatra.
After a long period of dilly-dallying, the BJP, a few months ago, too announced its support for the Amaravati farmers.
On 8 September, after releasing a book titled “Amaravati: The Disputes and the Facts”, Naidu said all political parties, including the BJP and the Congress, were extending support to Amaravati as the capital of Andhra Pradesh.
In an oblique reference to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, who scrapped Naidu’s plan to have Amaravati as a greenfield capital, the former chief minister said no one should think their position is permanent. “The good deeds that we perform will be remembered by the people, and will remain permanently in their minds,” he observed.
“Even the late chief minister, YS Rajasekhar Reddy (the current chief minister’s father), never thought of discontinuing the works I launched. Cyberabad, the Shamshabad airport, and the Outer Ring Road in Hyderabad are classic examples of this,” Naidu maintained.
రాజధానిని కాపాడుకుని, రాష్ట్రాన్ని రక్షించుకుందామనే లక్ష్యంతో మొదలైన అమరావతి ఉద్యమం మహోద్యమమై వైకాపా విద్వేష పాలకులకి కంటిమీద కునుకు లేకుండా చేసింది. ఓర్పు, సహనంతో వెయ్యి రోజులుగా పోరాటం కొనసాగిస్తున్న అమరావతి రైతులు, యువత, మహిళలకు ఉద్యమాభివందనాలు. pic.twitter.com/aoSLN2Qio6
— Lokesh Nara (@naralokesh) September 12, 2022
It was on December 17, 2019, barely six months after the YSRCP came to power, that Chief Minister Jagan Mohan had hinted on the floor of the Assembly that Andhra Pradesh may have three capitals instead of one, and that the government may look into that option for the overall, uniform development of the state.
A day after the announcement, farmers who had parted with their lands in 29 villages for the proposed core capital of Amaravati, launched a stir which will complete 1,000 days in a few days.
However, in these past 1,000 days, the Jagan Mohan government has not been able to implement its three capital plan due to varied reasons, including legal tangles.
In a severe blow to the government, a three-judge bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court headed by Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra on 3 March had ordered that Amaravati be developed as the capital of the state as planned under the APCRDA Act legislated by the previous TDP government.
The division bench, also comprising Justices M Satyanarayana Murthy and DVSS Somayajulu, delivered the judgment on a batch of petitions filed by the farmers who had parted with their land for the capital city and were opposing the Jagan government’s plan to create three new capitals by scrapping the APCRDA Act.
The farmers had approached the court when the Jagan Mohan government passed the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Act.
The state government then repealed the two controversial laws, but said it would bring them in a new form — but in the six months since, it has made no move and neither has it approached a higher court.
Leaders of the ruling YSRCP are fuming over the Maha Padayatra 2.0 taken out by Amaravati farmers. Especially ministers like Botsa Satyanarayana and Gudavada Amarnath from north Andhra were vocal about their opposition to the march.
They cautioned that such rallies would only provoke emotions and sentiments of the public in the north Andhra region that may further lead to a law and order situation in the state.
“It’s not a padayatra but an armed invasion of north Andhra. How can we allow the rally by those who are opposing Vizag as executive capital? This will lead to law and order issues in this part of the state. It’s an emotive issue for the people of north Andhra,” said state industries minister, Gudivada Amarnath.
అది పాదయాత్ర కాదు విశాఖపై దండయాత్ర – మంత్రి గుడివాడ అమర్నాథ్.
మూడు రాజధానుల్లో అమరావతి ఒకటి. అమరావతి రాజధాని కాదని మేం చెప్పలేదు. పాదయాత్రలు ఉత్తరాంధ్ర మీద దండయాత్రలు.#ISupport3Capitals#APExcutiveCapitalVisaka pic.twitter.com/RBYmIIhH9O— Gudivada Amarnath (@gudivadaamar) September 9, 2022
